Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

“So, it is an esteemed disciple of Senior Xi Mu. This way, please.”

“I’m far from being that, just a nominal disciple.”

After the other party reported his backing, Xiao Chen did not dare tarry. He performed a cupped-fist salute and invited Lu Benwei in.

When the two were seated, Xiao Chen asked, “Might I ask, why are you looking for me?”

Lu Benwei took out a painting and handed it to Xiao Chen. Then, he said, “This is for Young Master Xiao from Master.”

Xiao Chen wanted to open the painting to take a look. However, Lu Benwei pressed down on the scroll, stopping him. “Master said that Young Master Xiao could look at it only after I leave.”

Strange, Xiao Chen thought to himself but did not insist.

“I shall take my leave and not interrupt Young Master Xiao, then.”

“Wait up.

“The people in the Faux God World are either Faux Gods or super faction disciples like me. How come you can remain in the Holy Domain’s Divine Capital?”

Lu Benwei smiled and explained, “Sovereign Emperors can enter too. They just need to pay a certain price. As for me, Master helped me attain permanent residency in the Holy Domain’s Divine Capital. I can freely enter the Faux God World. However, it was not easy for Master to do so. People like me are scarce in the Divine Capital.”

“I see. I’ll send you off.”

“You are too polite.”

Xiao Chen stood up and sent off the other party. Then, he entered deep thought as he held the painting. He had defeated Xi Mu’s statue in the Trial Tower. Then, when he returned, Xi Mu sent him a painting.

What does this mean?

If he took a fancy to me, why did he not appear and take me in as a disciple?

Xiao Chen would be quite glad for a Faux God to take him in as a disciple and give him pointers.

In fact, he would not just be glad. More accurately, he desired it. Having a Faux God expert to guide him and not having one were completely different situations.

Feeling some confusion, Xiao Chen unfurled the scroll. He saw a lake in the painting. The lake looked jade-green and had vast lush mountains around it.

Lush mountains, green water, white clouds, and wild cranes leisurely flying in the sky. This was a very typical mountain and river painting.

The art was very exquisite. The mountains were distinct and the water clear, showing a lingering state and pulling one into fantasy… However, that was all.

The painting, the paper, and the ink, they were all ordinary. There was nothing special about them.

“Strange.”

He got a disciple to send me a painting for no reason and did not meet me or explain. What does this senior intend?

Xiao Chen stared at this painting for a long time and could not make out the true meaning behind it. He helplessly shook his head.

“I should not delay the proper matters. One thousand five hundred kilograms of Origin Liquid are sufficient for stabilizing my cultivation. I might even advance further,” Xiao Chen sighed. Then, he entered the secret room and started cultivating.

--

Inside Xi Mu’s palace, Lu Benwei reported respectfully, “Master, I have already delivered the painting and did not explain anything.”

“Good. Send him the second painting one year later. Xiao Chen, if you cannot understand it by then, then don’t blame me for ruining your future.”

Xi Mu felt terrible for stopping the other Faux God bladesmen from taking in Xiao Chen. However, he could not put his face aside to meet Xiao Chen.

Hence, Xi Mu orchestrated this set of events. Unfortunately, Xiao Chen could not make out anything.

Lu Benwei thought to himself, Master’s temper is incomprehensible. I spent ten years looking at that painting before understanding some of its true meaning. Furthermore, I had Master guiding me. Now, he gave it to Xiao Chen without any explanation. Xiao Chen probably will not figure it out so quickly.

If Xiao Chen gets engrossed in it and accidentally delays himself, it will really ruin his future.

Of course, Lu Benwei could only think this. His Master always behaved this way.

Xi Mu glanced indifferently at Lu Benwei and said after some thought, “Master knows what you are thinking. Naturally, Master has his reasons for doing things this way. Remember, do not meet him in secret or say anything. You may go.”

Lu Benwei nodded and took his leave. However, he could not guess Xi Mu’s thoughts.

After Lu Benwei left, a crafty glint flashed in Xi Mu’s eyes. He smiled and said, “I already understood half of that painting when I was two hundred years old. If you cannot understand it, you are not comparable to me…”

It turned out that Xi Mu still was reluctant to concede, wanting to compare himself to Xiao Chen.

After Xiao Chen understood this many years later, he would smile bitterly. Had he known about the other party’s temper, he would have pretended to lose. He would not have needed to spend so much effort learning the true meaning of the Fiendish Saber.

--

In the ancestral hall of the Golden Dragons in the Divine Dragon Empire, Central Great Realm:

A person with a sharp-angled face and wearing golden dragon robes sat on an elevated throne.

This was the Purple Gold Dragon Emperor, the person with the highest authority in the Divine Dragon Empire.

“Your Highness, I have received definitive information. Xiao Chen has indeed entered the Heavenly Alliance and has appeared in the Faux God World. He is currently undergoing ten years of bitter cultivation there. I just received news that he broke the record for the Trial Tower’s first floor and second floor, a startling result. However, no Faux God experts appeared to take him in as a disciple,” someone kneeling below reported respectfully.

The Purple Gold Dragon Emperor’s expression did not change as he said indifferently, “With such potential, to think that no Faux God took him in as a disciple. That is really strange. If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely become a Sovereign Emperor ten years later. What do you think we should do?”

The person below showed a somewhat nervous expression. However, he still said, “We should kill him!”

“However, he is in the Faux God World. How can I do anything?”

“This subordinate naturally has my ways. After the matter is done, it will not bring any trouble to Your Highness.”

The Purple Gold Dragon Emperor said, “I am not the person who killed him or ordered him to be killed. Where would any trouble come from?”

The expression of the person below changed slightly as a corner of his lips twitched. He nodded and said, “This subordinate understands.”

“Withdraw, then.”

“Yes.”

After that person left, only the Purple Gold Dragon Emperor remained in the large empty hall.

Despite holding authority over all life and death in the Divine Dragon Empire, an aloof position, he had no one close to him. The Purple Gold Dragon Emperor muttered to himself, “Jiang Shan…your excellent successor really fights hard and helped you gain some glory. However, I absolutely cannot let the Golden Dragon bloodline fall in my hands. No one can stop me!”

A cold intent flashed in the Purple Gold Dragon Emperor’s eyes, and the entire hall froze over. The glistening golden dragon pillars turned into ice pillars as cold Qi spread out.

--

Despite being in the Faux God World, Xiao Chen still could not escape the attention of some people targeting him. Naturally, he was unaware of this.

He also would not have bothered to think about this anyway. One thousand five hundred kilograms of Origin Liquid was sufficient for him to remain in closed-door cultivation for one year.

One year passed in the blink of an eye. Xiao Chen remained in the secret room all the while, aside from when Ao Jiao came by once. By using the one thousand five hundred kilograms of Origin Liquid and aided by his Azure Dragon Divine Body, his cultivation soared significantly during this period.

Now, Xiao Chen was only half a step away from reaching Peak Sovereign Personage. Upon reaching the bottleneck, resources no longer sufficed to raise one’s cultivation.

One required opportunities. It was not something that could be achieved through closed-door cultivation.

After Xiao Chen finished the Origin Liquid, he started practicing the ancient Divine Firmament Nine Variations Movement Technique and occasionally went to the library to read. Meanwhile, Mu Yunzhu went looking for him once, wanting to fight him. However, he rejected Mu Yunzhu.

Aside from these, Xiao Chen’s days passed peacefully during this one year or so. Nothing much happened.

However, the Faux God World was extraordinarily bustling. The fights between the super factions were exceptionally brilliant.

Records were being broken in the Trial Tower, one after another, as people climbed higher.

However, all this had nothing to do with Xiao Chen. He did not rush, following his own pace as he took things step by step.

Although Xiao Chen’s progress was not very fast, it was very firm. His strength grew stably as he forged ahead vigorously and reliably.

“So, a Sovereign Personage’s strength can be classified into so many categories.” Xiao Chen put down a book as he entered deep thought in the library.

After reaching Peak Sovereign Personage, most people would remain stuck at this level for hundreds—maybe thousands—of years. The extraordinary and talented people might still remain stuck there for decades; this would be very normal.

Sovereign Personage was the peak of being a person. Once one broke through, one started cultivating the divine. After surmounting this step, one crossed the border between personhood and godhood. The distance between these two could not simply be described with the word “chasm.”

Hence, the strength of Peak Sovereign Personages varied. The closer one was to the Divine Vein Realm, the stronger one would be.

Peak Sovereign Personages had three higher-tier stages. First was heaven-defying Sovereign Personages, like the Heavenly Alliance’s Gongzi Lan, Mo Yu, and Wu Meng, who were clearly stronger than other Peak Sovereign Personages. Such people could be called heaven-defying Sovereign Personages.

Further up would be half-step Sovereign Emperors. These people were only half a step away from the Divine Vein Realm. The most obvious sign was the merger of their Dao Domains and Soul Energy, forming a Divine Seal in their Soul Pools.

One example would be the Profound Heaven Holy Land’s Mu Yunzhu. At Xiao Chen’s first encounter with him, Mu Yunzhu had needed only one sentence to send his Dao-infused voice deep into Xiao Chen’s soul and echoing in Xiao Chen’s Soul Pool. That was because Mu Yunzhu had already formed a Divine Seal.

Finally, there were false Sovereign Emperors. In reality, at this stage, they had already left the confines of Sovereign Personage. They could even start transmuting their Veritable Essence Energy into Divine Energy. However, they had not yet opened their Divine Veins and were not truly Sovereign Emperors; hence, they were also known as false Emperors.

Those at this stage could be called unrivaled among Sovereign Personages. If a Sovereign Emperor did not appear, nearly no one could defeat them.

In the Holy Domain’s Divine Capital, the Universe Origin Sect, the Martial God Palace, the Profound Heaven Holy Land, and the Hidden Spirit Temple all had geniuses at this stage.

The more Xiao Chen understood about the Faux God Realm, the more he awakened to the reality of his situation.

Right now, he was only at the peak of Great Perfection Sovereign Personage, not even at consummation yet. He still needed to work harder.

“With my current strength, I can match a heaven-defying Sovereign Personage. However, if I meet a half-step Sovereign Emperor like Mu Yunzhu, my chances are even. Victory would be difficult. If I run into a false Emperor, my chances of defeat are larger. I need to make a breakthrough as soon as possible.”

Xiao Chen entered deep thought. One thousand five hundred kilograms of Origin Liquid had allowed him to advance rapidly. He could reach Peak Sovereign Personage at any time; he just lacked some opportunity. What he needed was true combat.

“Perhaps I should leave the city and kill Faux Beasts.”